Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Today was moving
day. After staying up much too late to watch the U.S. presidential
inauguration last night – President Obama was sworn in at midnight
Thai time – we found ourselves turning off the lights at nearly
1am. With the alarm set for 7:30am, we woke up on our own at 7:00.
Can you blame us for such a short night's sleep? We knew this would
be just the first of many big days to come, and the excitement is
again overpowering.

At PIAC Reception with Traces of Yesterday's Sunburn

We ate a quick
breakfast and then returned to our room to collect OD's suitcase.
The phone rang just before 9:30am. It was Saroj, a taxi driver and
sometime tour operator who has been with Dr. Kunaporn and the Phuket
International Aesthetic Institute (PIAC) for twenty years. He
delivered us in comfort to the Phuket International Hospital some
thirty minutes later. Both OD and I filled out admission papers
at the reception desk, although in fact it is only OD who was
being admitted. Today is her check-in day. I will follow her
tomorrow.

From the reception
desk we were taken to the office of PIAC itself, where OD signed
more papers and received the hospital bracelet that she will wear for
the duration of her stay. A chest X-ray followed, and then it was on
to OD's room. Although we had eaten only four hours earlier, we
found ourselves eating lunch just after noon. Surprisingly, we were
both hungry. For OD, this will be the last solid meal for some
time.

If there has been
any problem today, it has been in communicating with the nurse
assistants. Although I had been warned by others who have come to
Thailand, it was still an eye-opener to realize that staff at this
level has only a theoretical knowledge of English. After a short
time, however, we came to recognize that the senior and registered
nurses wear a different uniform and a nurse's cap. Their English is
good, and we now know to refer all questions to them, reserving
smiles and gestures for the junior staff.

Once we understood
with whom we can and with whom we cannot communicate, I asked the
most important question of the afternoon. That question was, simply,
would I be able to spend the night with OD? The answer was "of
course!" and so I phoned Saroj, who picked me up at 3pm, taking me
back to our hotel so that I could check out and retrieve my own
suitcases.

By 5pm I was back
in the room with OD. By then she had been given a laxative
followed by two one-liter bottles of water. OD says that in quick
order she lost everything she has eaten since our departure from
Bucharest. Her dinner at 6pm was little more than soup broth. From
midnight onward, she will not drink or eat anything at all.

The day is not
over. At 7pm OD will have her consultation with Dr. Kunaporn,
who will give her a physical exam and set the schedule for her
surgery tomorrow. A Thai psychiatrist will also visit OD to give
his blessing. Both in the US and Thailand, two letters of
recommendation are required for surgery in accordance with the
standards of the World Professional Association for Transgender
Health, In Thailand, however, one of the two recommendations must
come from a Thai psychiatrist.

That has been our
day so far. Robyn has checked out, and OD has checked in. The
preliminaries have begun for OD, and Robyn will follow suit
tomorrow.